WWDC18 – A Giant Move For Apple

Today Apple held its WWDC18 at San Jose. A great event that Apple held each year, bringing over 6000 developers from around the world.

The event shows the improvement in Apple’s Operating Systems. I’m really excited about how the Apple software team brought a great improvement on iOS, watchOS, tvOS and macOS.

Here are the updates on iOS:

iOS 12 has brought a massive improvement on the iPhone. It is no doubt the best of all the operating systems that Apple had made for the iPhone.

Here are the top 5 features from iOS 12:

1. Notifications

With iOS 12 the notifications center now has a grouped notifications. Instead of an app to display as many list of notifications as it can, it will now display a single list-view which will contain all the rest of the notifications.



2. Shortcuts

There is a new app in iOS12 named Shortcuts. This app works together with Siri and it allows you to set a custom command that you can use to ask Siri to perform for you.

3. MeMoji

Memoji is a feature that iOS12 brought to the Message app. You can use it to create your own custom character which you can add to the set of AniMoji in order to animate and share.

4. ARKit

The iOS12 brought a great improvement to ARKit. Apple have worked with Pixar Animation Studio to create a new file extension for AR named USDZ. The file extension will also be supported on Adobe Creative Cloud.

5. Screen Time

This app will help you track the rate at which you use an app and also your iPhone. It also has a feature that will allow you to set a limit to how you use an app.

A notification will be sent to you once you are about to reach the limit that you’ve set. Once you’ve reached the limit, the app will automatically stop and it will just display a warning message ⚠

iOS 12 – Everything you need to know

Apple will hopefully be releasing the new iPhone Operating System this June at WWDC18. Apple usually release iOS at the WWDC each year. I don’t think iOS 12 will be exempted from the tradition.

The release of iOS 11 last year offers an upgrade for iPhone 5s or later. I don’t think iPhone 5s will receive an upgrade to iOS 12, so we expect the new upgrade to be compatible with iPhone SE, iPhone 6 or later.

Features we expect in iOS 12

• Guest Mode:

This mode will allow users to select some apps that would be accessible even when their iPhone is locked.

• App bar:

The App bar will contain the Siri suggested apps. It is accessible by swiping the screen from right to left.

• Messages:

Messages app will now contain all conversations with a friend in one window. This includes E-Mails, Text Messages and Social Network Interactions.

• Augmented Reality:

We are expecting an upgrade in ARKit and Augmented Reality

• Performance:

Apple has decided to delay some of the new features it was working on in favour of spending time on addressing issues with performance and quality.

Finally, the iOS 12 I think will only bring much stability to the iPhone than more features.

FaceID over TouchID

The new flagship iPhone X is equipped with FaceID instead of TouchID, which makes the FaceID the only biometric authentication system for those using iPhone X

Apple used a total of 1 billion photos to train the neural network that Face ID depends on in the processing process.

Advantage of FaceID over TouchID

⁃ Touch ID can’t be used when my hands are wet

⁃ Face ID can also show you various notifications and messages, keep the screen bright, or lower the volume of the alarm and ringtones, and execute intelligently any action you want.

⁃ Better convenience, set up easily, and fast to unlock or pay

iPad Pro — 2018

Since the release of the iPhone X, rumors of an iPad with an OLED display keeps on circulating.

The release of iOS 11.3 beta gave a great hint on this. It shows that the iPad pro will have facial recognition and a small bezel.

iPhone: Yesterday and Today

iPhone is the first smartphone designed by Apple. The iPhone was launched on January 9, 2007; 10 years ago by Steve Jobs at MacWorld convention with a starting price of $199.

On September 12, Apple launched the iPhone X which features a 5.8 inches OLED display with facial recognition.

We compare the two models to see what has changed since the release of the original in 2007.

•Display

The 1st generation iPhone came with a 3.5 inches display (diagonally), while the iPhone X have a 5.8 inches display (diagonally). The iPhone X features an OLED screen while the original iPhone came with an LCD.

•Operating System

The 1st generation of iPhone came with iOS 1.0 and can upgrade to iOS 3.1.3 compared to the iPhone X which comes with iOS 11. The operating system on the iPhone X has a better interface and more features than the first one.

•Price

The price of the 1st generation starts at $199 compared to the iPhone X with a starting price of $999, making it to cost approximately 5X the original.

•Storage

The original iPhone comes with a 4, 8 or 16 GB flash memory, while the iPhone X comes with a 64 GB or 256 GB storage.

•Performance

The iPhone X runs on the A11 Bionic chip at 2.4GHz hexa-core 64bit which Apple claims can perform 600 billion operations in a second. And a 3GB of LPDDR4X RAM.

The original iPhone uses the Samsung 32-bit RISC ARM with 600MHz underclocked to 412MHz and a 128MB eDRAM.

•Camera

⁃ iPhone Original: 2.0 MP with geotagging

⁃ iPhone X:

Front Camera: 7 MP, f/2.2 aperture, portrait mode, Animoji, HDR, Portrait lighting, Retina flash, image stabilization and exposure control.

Rear Cameras : 12 MP with six-element lens, quad-LED True Tone flash, auto focus, facial recognition, portrait mode, portrait lighting, slow motion, 4k video recording and optical image stabilization.

•Sound

⁃ iPhone Original: Single loudspeaker and a headphone jack

⁃ iPhone X: Stereo Speakers without a headphone jack

Tips on how to capture great shots — iPhone 5 or later

According to Flickr, 47% of pictures that were uploaded on Flickr where shot on iPhone, making it the world’s most popular camera.

Here are tips that will help you capture great shots:

–HDR

HDR is the best mode to set when capturing a single object. It blurs away the background and focus on the object to bring out more details.

Captured using HDR

–Filters

You can add a filter to your image by clicking on the icon at the top right corner of the camera app screen. Chrome and Vivid are the best filters to use while taking outdoor photos with low light.

-Third-party Apps

There are apps in the Apple Store that help you get the best out of your camera. These are the ones I recommend:

• Snapchat

• Instagram

• Camera 360

• Selfie 360

How to set up custom ringtone in iPhone using iTunes

The iPhone Operating System doesn’t provide a way to add a custom ringtone directly from your phone. This can only be done using iTunes.

Here are the steps you should follow to add the custom ringtone to your iPhone.

⁃ Open iTunes in your Mac or Pc

⁃ Right click on the song that you would want to set as ringtone.

⁃ Click on Song Info

⁃ Click on options

⁃ Check the start and stop checkbox and set an interval that is less than 30 secs and click ok

⁃ Click on File at the top bar

⁃ Click on Convert > Create AAC Version

⁃ A file with the same name as the original would be created.

⁃ Right click on it and click show file location or show in finder

⁃ You would find out that a new file is created with the same name as that of the original but with a “.m4a” extension

⁃ Rename the file and change the extension to “.m4r” instead of “.m4a”

⁃ Connect your iPhone to iTunes

⁃ Go to tones

⁃ Drag and drop the “.m4r” file into the tones

⁃ Sync

⁃ Go to Settings > Sounds and choose your new ringtone

⁃ Happy Ringing!

Comment below if you are having a problem doing this.

iOS 11.3 — Coming Soon

The news of Apple slowing down old iPhones spread like blast. Apple was forced to issue a statement about the iPhone slowdown issues.

This is because of the thin lithium battery in your iPhone. Though lithium-ion batteries charge faster, last longer, and have a higher power density for more battery life in a lighter package, they become less effective as they chemically age and their ability to hold a charge diminishes. Which can cause unexpected shutdowns.

Apple promise to release a new iOS software update in “early 2018” with “new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.”

Apple is expected to release iOS 11.3 in March, probably with the iPhone SE 2.

The main reason Apple is releasing this update is to enable more visibility to the health of your iPhone battery. So that you would be able to know when your iPhone is in need of a battery replacement.

iOS 11.3 is also expected to come with an upgrade in the security of HomeKit, Message and Safari

Portrait Mode in Smartphones

The concept of portrait in a smartphone simply means the ability to blur away the background and focusing on the subject of an image.

Source: Apple

Portrait mode is used when taking photos of a single object keeping the object sharp, and blurring the background. It first appeared in April 2014 with the launch of the HTC One M8 featuring a dual lens camera.

Most smartphones use the 2x telephoto camera for portrait mode. Google approach was different, the Google Pixel use machine learning algorithm to replicate bokeh to great effect without using dual cameras.

Smartphones with the best portrait cameras:

•Google Pixel 2 XL

The Google Pixel two XL is the smartphone with the best camera for portrait. It uses machine learning to blur the background and focus on an object in a photo instead of using a dual lens camera. The front camera in the Pixel 2 XL also support portrait mode.

• Apple iPhone X

The iPhone X is the best in taking portrait photos when it comes to smartphones using the dual camera system. Making it the second best smartphone for taking portraits.

The iPhone X also comes with studio lighting, which produces the effect of real studio lighting. It also supports portrait in the front camera by using the TrueDepth camera.

• Samsung Note 8

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is the first Samsung Smartphone with a dual camera. One of the things I love about the camera in the Note 8 is the “Live Focus” that lets you change the bokeh on your portrait.

iPhone X: The Best Smartphone Yet

The iPhone X was released on Nov 3rd of 2017. Putting Apple ahead, leaving its rivals behind.

Here are the Top 5 features I love about the iPhone X

1. FaceID

The facial recognition on the iPhone X is way better than the Touch ID on the previous generations of iPhones.

Apple claims that the chances of someone picking your iPhone and unlocking it using FaceID is 1 in 1,000,000 compared to the Touch ID which is 1 in 50,000. Meaning the FaceID is 20X better than the Touch ID

Apple Executive Phil Schiller said in the launch keynote. This is the future of how we’ll unlock our smartphones and protect our sensitive information.

The FaceID uses the frontal TrueDepth camera, which projects over 30,000 invisible dots on your face and send the data to the A11 Bionic Chip where it is stored.

2. OLED Screen

This is the first iPhone with an OLED screen. The colors appear brilliant and beautiful on the OLED screen.The screen was designed by Apple and produced by Samsung Display.

Specifications

• HDR display

• 2436-by-1125-pixel resolution at 458 ppi

• 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical)

• True Tone display

The True Tone and other technologies like Night Shift, Super Retina Display and Color Filters also help in making the screen to look super gorgeous.

3. Animoji

With the TrueDepth camera, Apple brought a new feature to iMessage. Animoji literally means Animated Emojis. You can choose from the set of emojis available. The TrueDepth camera maps more than 50 facial muscles in your face which allows it to create the animated emoji in real time.

4. Camera

The camera on the iPhone X is the best camera Apple have ever made. Both the front and rear facing cameras now have portrait mode.

Rear Cameras

• 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras

• Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture

• Telephoto: ƒ/2.4 aperture

• Optical zoom; digital zoom up to 10x

Video Recording

• 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps

• 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps

• 720p HD video recording at 30 fps

• Optical image stabilization for video

• Optical zoom; 6x digital zoom

• Quad-LED True Tone flash

• Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps

TrueDepth Camera

• 7MP camera

• Portrait mode

• Portrait Lighting (beta)

• Animoji

• 1080p HD video recording

• Retina Flash

• ƒ/2.2 aperture

• Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos

• Auto HDR

5. Size

The iPhone X is a little bigger than the iPhone 8 and also have a screen that is 0.3 inches bigger than that of the iPhone 8 plus.

Specifications

Height: 5.65 inches (143.6 mm)

Width: 2.79 inches (70.9 mm)

Depth: 0.30 inch (7.7 mm)

Weight: 6.14 ounces (174 grams)